Swans on Rydal Lake.
Wide, wild, and open to the air,
Which had built up everywhere
An under-roof of doleful gray.
With an inner voice the river ran,
And down it floated a dying swan,
And loudly did lament.
Extract: Alfred Lord Tennyson
To witness the death of a swan is a particularly disturbing experience, something that lingers and haunts long after the event.
Recently, I came across a swan that eventually died of Aspergillosis, a disease that affects swans and water fowl worldwide. Aspergillosis is a fungal infection that affects the bird’s respiratory system and often leads to death, particularly in the winter months when birds become run down as their natural food supplies become depleted. Male swans are twice as likely to catch this disease as the females.
So, each winter, volunteers across Britain take to the waterways to supplement the swan’s diet. Ideally, swan’s should be fed corn or brown bread. White bread is indigestable to swans, and mouldy bread can have a devastating effect on swan’s and water fowl by causing aspergillosis which can lead to their death.
Often on the canals I have seen people throwing mouldy and white bread to swans having no idea of the harm it can do. This is particularly dangerous in the winter. So….if you see people doing this please step in, as aspergillosis is on the increase this winter, you might just save the life of a swan.
That is useful to know. I will be more careful in future.
Thanks Dessie, it doesn’t seem to be very well known. Maybe a campaign is called for.x
I’ve visited your site, snowbird, to bring me up to date ;( no email notifications as yet. Have you managed to link into my site?
Damn, didn’t look at the arithmetic properly and lost my comment.
I have manually put your website address into my following list. It doesn’t yet allow me to set you up for email notification. As you know, I have already done the following bit via your subscription on site. I think we’ll just have to wait and see what happens in the fullness of time.
Just checked and your site recognises my subscription.
what is the 4×9= box for, other than an answer? This is not the same as Plant Pot on BCUK. Will you be doing something akin to it?
Hi Menhir, I think the math’s question is to make sure that comments come from real people. At the moment these posts are the ones from my our site. Yes, this blog will be exactly the same as my other one…also my avatar name here is snowbird! lol…xxxxx
Hi Dina. Lovely pictures. I really didn’t know about the white bread problem. I used to to that myself before.
Vaaaaaaaahid…….HELLLLLLLLO you!!!! Thanks…yes I only found out recently that mouldy bread was bad for swans.xxxxx
That’s good news!x
What a beautiful picture!! I had no idea about white bread!! Shocking – I’ll always use brown in future! xx